{"id":66856,"date":"2025-08-14T17:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/66856\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T17:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:08:09","slug":"man-cant-believe-his-luck-on-dartmoor-after-40-year-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/66856\/","title":{"rendered":"Man can’t believe his luck on Dartmoor after 40 year wait"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I was fascinated to see one, it was a great experience”(Image: Mark Fice)<\/p>\n

This venomous species can be spotted all over the UK, and are known to slither through Devon fields, particularly on Dartmoor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some people wait a lifetime to see this creature, some see them frequently, but they\u2019re actually not as common as recent sightings suggest.<\/p>\n

The adder is a greyish snake with a distinct pattern on its back. They prefer woodland and moorland areas and can be spotted throughout the summer months.<\/p>\n

Mark Fice has finally come across one of these fascinating creatures after a whopping 40 year wait.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was riding my bicycle about a mile down the trail from the Dartmoor Diner. I saw the adder basking in the sun, I got my phone out and quickly took three photos before the snake slithered off and hid away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mark, from Plymouth<\/a>, said he was mesmerised by the sighting.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn adder spotted on Dartmoor(Image: Mark Fice)<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI was fascinated to see one, it was a great experience. Coincidentally, I only said that morning to my best friend that I have never seen an adder in the wild, I have only seen them in pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then late that morning of course I saw an adder for the first time, it was lovely to see one after visiting Dartmoor for over 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

People have been sharing photos of adder sightings in Facebook groups and online, prompting many to speculate that they are becoming more widespread.<\/p>\n

But Stephen Hussey of the Devon Wildlife Trust says this is not the case and adders are in a current state of decline.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople may be seeing more adders, but this doesn\u2019t mean that there are more adders on Dartmoor or anywhere else in the South West,\u201d Stephen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch more likely is that the warm weather<\/a> means there are many more exploring the remaining places adders live, such as moorland and coastal habitats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, evidence on adder numbers point to a sharp decline in their numbers over the past 20 to 30 years mainly due to disturbance from humans and the loss and fragmentation of the places they like to live in. The species is now in a fight for survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"They'reThey’re in decline(Image: Mark Fice)<\/p>\n

Whilst the adder is an impressive, and for some, a rare sighting, it is recommended to view the venomous creature from afar. Mark said that he was cautious of his interaction with the venomous creature.<\/p>\n

Stephen said: \u201cIf you come across an adder, leave it alone. Take a step back and admire it for what it is, a beautiful and increasingly rare part of our native wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdders are not aggressive. When bites happen it\u2019s often because people have gotten too close or tried to handle the animal. Dog disturbance to adders and other wildlife can be avoided if dogs are on a short lead, doing so also greatly reduces the risk of your dog getting a bite from an adder.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone bitten by an adder should seek medical attention,\u201d Stephen added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“I was fascinated to see one, it was a great experience”(Image: Mark Fice) This venomous species can be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[35126,1325,3920,90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-66856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-dartmoor","9":"tag-facebook","10":"tag-plymouth","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom","15":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}